Sensient in the News

Sensient Colors

This is a trip report. The idea for it began when I overheard a manager from our member Sensient which, among other things creates inks, say that they had managed to create a Neon Yellow Inkjet Ink in 4 months rather than the usual 9 months. WHAT? It takes months to creates colors? Why? The other part of the mystery was why a factory asked for the neon yellow and not the brands. As it turns out the factory knew the market better than the brands and knew there was a market for this brilliant glowing yellow sublimation ink.

When Kraft macaroni and cheese lost its signature, neon-tinged orange flare this year, it was instantly recognizable to consumers. The shift from processed foods to natural alternatives was a game-changer and turning down the volume on color was a sign of the times. If Kraft's established, secure product was changing, suddenly no product was safe.

Paul Manning, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sensient Technologies Corporation, said he has never known a “steady food industry.” Mr. Manning joined the company in 2009 as General Manager of the Company’s Food Colors business in North America and as the economic recession was taking hold. He ascended to the position of President and CEO in 2014 and now he is managing the color and flavor supplier as the industry’s product development focus has shifted to products perceived as natural, wholesome and that feature a clean label.

Though thirst and hydration, maybe nutrition, and sometimes celebration,
may motivate consumers to drink a beverage, color often influences
selection. Appropriate colors reassure the consumer that the beverage will taste as described. Faded hues and discoloration are unacceptable.

Re-creating the rainbow has never been a problem for manufacturers that use synthetic colors, but it has become a significant issue over the past few years for food processors seeking to respond to consumer demands for cleaner labels.

Sensient Colors, a business unit of Sensient Technologies Corporation, recently announced it plans to invest and expand production and distribution facilities in South Africa to better serve this important region.

As an initial cue to flavor, only scent trumps color in attracting humans to food. Our expectations about how items should taste are based on hue, saturation, brightness and shade, and anomalies, such as coloring a lemon drop blue, can be unsettling.

How food looks may be a major deciding factor whether or not a consumer will try the product. In order to increase the visual appeal, food and beverage designers use color additives to enhance their products. But consumers are also becoming more interested in the ingredients that make up these foods and beverages, forcing manufacturers to look at alternative, natural options for colorants. This Digital Pulse Issue delves into how products with color are created and kept consistent from the processing to the time it lands on the shelf.

In what’s been called the “clean label” trend, consumers increasingly are seeking out products with a short list of minimally processed ingredients and typically free of artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors and preservatives. As beverage makers try to keep up with this consumer demand, this trend has, in turn, generated strong growth for natural colors typically sourced from fruit and vegetable extracts, as opposed to synthetic colors.

Consumers are fickle when it comes to their candy color. They expect their red taffy to taste like strawberry and their green gum to be spearmint; meanwhile, the red or green coating that seals a chocolate-covered peanut better be tasteless. The same is true of the rainbow-colored nonpareils adorning a gumdrop.

A consumer's first impression of a food or beverage is its appearance, which means color can play a significant role in a product's success. This free, downloadable Digital Issue includes market data, application-based information and a buyer's guide to help food product designers, marketers and C-level executives make informed decisions on the colors they select for their food and beverage products.

Sensient Food Colors Europe has extended its Cardea range with an even wider choice of bright new color shades. Sensient’s Cardea product line is completely composed of natural ingredients and concentrates meeting growing clean labelling demands and fits perfectly with the new EU guidance notes on coloring food.

Tucked away down the winding road of the Corte Tegge industrial estate in Cavriago is an anonymous-looking building that gives little clue as to what goes on behind its white façade. But venture beyond the gleaming glass doors, and you’ll discover one of northern Italy’s best-kept secrets. For here, in the heart of an agricultural red wine-producing community, is Sensient Food Colours (SFC) Italy – the largest European producer of red natural food grade colours, more commonly known as anthocyanins.

Sensient Food Colors Europe has achieved ISO 14001 certification for environmental management from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This important development is a significant step in Sensient's approach to protect natural resources in its manufacturing, logistics and administrative processes.